Freeride BC

Andrew Mitchell wins the Canadian Nationals!

2010-07-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

Huuuuge congratulations to Andrew Mitchell who is again crowned the Canadian Champion for the 3rd time!

With a few years of setbacks and fresh out of rehab for an ankle issue, he sweeps the Nationals once again!

And this is the man who has been designing and working on the Freeride BC park so that we can all have a place to train and reach peek physical conditions… or just roll around, it is still just a fun park.

“Andrew Mitchell showed us he’s back after an absence due to injuries, with the fastest time of the day at 3:27.97. Second place went to Jamie Biluk with a time of 3:29.84. Jamie was focused and looking fast all weekend, but a minor mistake was all it took with such fast times. Dean Tennant was the fastest qualified on Saturday with a smoking 3:28.51, but came third for a second straight year with a time of 3 minutes 30.38.31”

Full article HERE

PARK IS OPEN!!

2010-06-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Get in there and enjoy the park, we have completed another phase, one that you cannot ignore at the back end of the park but ride within your limits!

We did a bit of Soil Tac testing on the intermediate sections and once things naturally pack down we will go back in and finish it all off, sealing the park into concrete.

Huge thanks again to all involved and lets gather up some more funding for the tree'd Rotary Fitness sections!

For a map of the true location pelase kick this link
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=10180+littlewood+rd+bc&ie=UTF8&ll=48.66421,-123.426418&spn=0.019841,0.036478&z=14&source=embed

Park Closure! June 9 onwards until complete.

2010-06-10T13:39:00.001-07:00

It has been so long since we did an update and to be honest I just figured out the codes to get back in thanks to LiveWriter program saving it all.

Park is closed folks… but not for long!

We are inside the park as we speak cleaning up and designing/building the technical advanced sections. While we are in there it is very important to stay out until we are done. We are prepping the material for Soil Tac a very expensive procedure so please hold your enthusiasm until we re open.

If you do jump the fence the park resident Buck will be waiting for you and he is highly trained.

The Rotary Club had a successful Monte Carlo casino night and did a bang up job of raising money for the park. HUUUGE thanks for the influx of help even though we are a bit lacking on the blogging of all the updates.

Rotary Fitness Zone!

2009-11-18T13:52:00.001-08:00

This is the surprise… I suck at holding back surprises but if you all behave and stay clear of the park when we close it we can promise you a super fun new section will arrive!

Chris Lamb is the man behind many of the best trails we love to shred in Whistler and last Summer he visited the park and got stoked on what we had planned. We were stoked just to have a guy like him build our slalom track!

So he has signed on to help future track development next Spring in www.freeridebc.com our local project of community love!

The amazing people of Rotary have also agreed to help fundraise and in return we will have Chris make the Rotary Fitness section the place to be!

Check out some of Chris’s work in these links:

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/30834/

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/30843/

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/31016/

Now, we have already built a large BMX inspired Pump Track at the park entrance but Chris is going to transform the tree'd section into a Disneyland of trails, natural and tight and fast!

Seasonal park closure folks!

2009-11-18T11:29:00.001-08:00

We attempted to have the park cleaned and Soil Tac ready for the winter but we have sadly missed the window of opportunity!

The weather ahs not been the best and the park is absolutely un-ridable.

Please understand that it is for the safety of the parks jumps and tracks and of course for yourself too.

Please refrain from jumping the fence because bluntly speaking every time you do you cost our society money that we are saving for future developments. It is slimy and gross in there anyways, you are not missing much… trust us!

Any park related questions please email us.

Next year we have a surprise for everyone so please help keep the wear and tear down to zero so we can show you what is cooking!!!

Weather Closure!

2009-10-20T10:33:00.001-07:00

The park is open to public and free for all to use between dawn and dusk but some of you may have noticed the gate is closed from time to time. This is for safety reasons and for the park general health too. The park can also be shut down at our discretion if some one has modified the course in anyway and we need to repair the damage but for the most part not a problem at all, the weather is to blame!

When it rains heavily the jumps become wet and slimy causing concern for safety as there is little to no traction at all, and when you ride the jumps or the pump track with or without proper tires you cause extreme damage to the surface.

Then when it all dries out we are left with heavily rutted tire tracks all over the park so we must close it down until it dries up! This drains our resources and partial course closures or the entire park needs to be closed for repair.

This Saturday we are holding a cleanup party, basically a modest day raking rocks and debris off the course so that we can prepare the site wit ha product called Soil Tac! What Soil Tac does is penetrate the surface of the park about an inch thick making water bead off the surface almost making it into concrete. This will safe the park from heavy winter conditions and all of us can ride it safely!

We would have don't this before but the funds were simply not there to do so until now through very generous donations and community support!

Keep in mind this entire park has come to life through the endless hard work of a small group of people and as with every project of this size and the amazing growth we have had there are communication issues and lack of man hours at times. We will promise to have this blog updated every time the park is closed so you can check prior to driving or riding out.

Thanks a bunch and we hope to see you this Saturday!

Park Cleanup needed for Winter!!

2009-10-16T16:44:00.001-07:00

We are ready to winterize the park but we need your help!

We need to, -MUST- clean it next week to prepare it for a winterization treatment, machines are lined up and we will weather proof the jumps from nasty MR Winter!

Here is a link with more pictures of what the weather has been doing to the park!

Face book has been set up as well..:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155517608119

****VOLUNTEERS NEEDED****

To Clean the ROCK from the Park!

North Saanich Bike Park, Mills Road

Saturday, October 24

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Before the park can be winterized for year-round use, there is some cleaning up to do.

Please bring your friends, your energy and a smile!

We need to know that you are coming as lunch will be provided.

Please rsvp to contact@freeridebc.com

Safety first! Be prepared for a short safety talk before the work starts.

You will also be required to sign a 'Volunteer Registration Form.'

*******************************************************

Jane Victoria King
Land: (250) 298-9367
Mobile: (250) 886-5652
janevictoriaking@yahoo.ca
Jane_Victoria on Twitter

Hope to see you there and remember RSVP is a must so that we know who is attending so we can supply refreshments!

HELMET CAMERA ACTION!

2009-08-26T16:28:00.001-07:00

This was randomly found on the internet and shows some cool footage of the advanced lines and the pump track!

Check it out!

And in other news… Donations have been pouring in!

Huge thanks for all the support, Riders Cycles, Russ Hayes Sidney/ Victoria and to the overwhelming support from the Deep Cove Market who held a silent auction which raised over $4000 grand! I believe some bikes from Brentwood Cycles were included too, I missed the event but huge thanks goes out to all the bike shops and to Deep cove!

Sidney Rotary club has extended a helping hand and will be assisting us in fundraising too, very excited about this they know how to make things happen and we are glad they view our park as a worthy cause!

So we now have over $10,000 in the bank, roughly $10,000 has already been spent in the initial phases but the main goal now is water source and proper soil to make the final push!

Kyle Marshall local pro DH racer is off to race for Canada in the Worlds held in Australia. I think he took off today actually so best of luck Kyle! Kyle was in the park practicing rhythm and cornering yesterday, it was cool to see him mingle with the kids and answering questions.

This is Kyle on a bad day at the Worlds in Monte Saint Anne

Here is Kyle on a good day!!

Good luck in Australia Kyle and thanks to everyone for their help!

Family time in the park!

2009-07-30T16:02:00.001-07:00

Our Guest Rider Kaylee shows us how to ride the track in style.. Ding Ding dropping in!

The most important thing to get across about the North Saanich Freeride Park is that the kid section it is not just for kids!

On the adult side of things, one of the parks volunteers Kyle Marshall just won the Canadian Nationals last week and his mom Jane just sent us this email…

“At present, Kyle's sitting in the number one spot in the World for his age according to the UCI rankings.

Pretty cool.

See ya soon.

Jane”

So big talent can come from these parks, congratulations Kyle!! Number one rank!!

Taa Daaa!~

2009-06-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

BEFORE...

AND AFTER!!!

We are 80 percent complete in all phases!!

Go and enjoy this park on June 16th, it encompasses every skill and fitness level and has been 100 percent built on peoples passion to introduce to you what biking really is and how it can benefit your life. Sounds cheesy but it is true, get in there and enjoy it and a huge thanks to all the volunteers and all of the donations to the Friends of North Saanich Freeride Society!

So June 16th we expect to be 100 percent open in all the new phases only leaving the Pro line and the much anticipated dual slalom course to be built which pending donations of material and funding for completion!

Remember riding this park before the opening date JUNE 16TH is illegal and will result in further delays in the parks opening. Please respect this and wait until it is ready, we have worked very hard to acheive thsi and it would be a shame to have it closed due to a few people who decide to jump the fence.

Other than that get ready for a fun summer!

PARK RE-OPENING JUNE 16TH

2009-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Due to construction efforts the park has been temporarily closed until the 16th of June!

We appreciate your patience and apologise for any inconvenience but in the end it will be worth it when all the phases come to life!

Please refrain from hopping the fence and riding the park, just one more week and we can all go in and ride a fresh course!

Intermediate Section 80% complete!

2009-06-01T13:19:00.001-07:00

Intermediate phase is coming along great! We all have farmer tans and dust in our teeth but it is better than doing this in the winter with no machines!

Again this is just a teaser to wet the whistle! When the full intermediate line is done I will do a video walk through and make sense of it all.

Below is a shot from early last week when we roughed out the track, it has been dialed in and refined since then and we are pretty stoked to show it off soon!

The tracked skidder that Scansa donated is a gift from the gods. Without the proper tools it would be near impossible to shape the course as fast and accurate as we have and the weather is perfect.

So big thanks to Scansa for stepping in and donating 50 plus truckloads of material and their Bobcat to help shape the jumps!

I do not know if anyone has hired a Bobcat these days let alone ordered 50 Dumptruck loads of material to their house but it is not as cheap as one would think! Truck after truck kept rolling in filling our field with material! Donations like this are what makes it all worth while after years of struggling by to open this park.

Using the new material and bobcat Kyle Michell has made quick progress shaping everything with his bucket getting creative making this section fun for even the pros!

The end of the intermediate is going to be a huge hit- popularity wise- ending in two pyramid options that hip into a large bowl. A rider needs options for his/her skill level and we wanted the park to not be intimidating so we have made the Intermediate fun and ride able by a pro biker but safe enough to roll over in a test run.

The left side of the 3-line intermediate section can be rolled over safely with no skill level needed to jump a bicycle. As you get used to the feeling and flow of the table top you can try out the center jump where you can try catching a bit of air and so on until you wish to try the outside line that has table tops with small gaps in between the landing and the jumps lip. If you do not make it there is just a small gap and you will safely land on the jumps back side.

This section will be separated from the advanced intermediate section by a 12 ft road as is the children's area from the intermediate as seen in the very first picture. So it is going to a pretty cool park you just have to trust us and when the intermediate sections are complete we will move to the advanced pro section and we will do some test runs to show you the flow.

Mark Mathews keeping the jumps nice and wet in one of first scorching days of the summer!

So keep your eyes peeled for more updates!

Park development in full swing!

2009-05-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

With the generous donations received over the past several months we have begun full development of the park!

Wow! Huge, Huge thanks to everyone involved and to the generous donation of Material and equipment from Scansa Construction and a very handy 40ft shipping container from Viking Air!

Donations have rolled in as well at an impressive speed.

So before the photo’s lets pay some over due respect:

To Date the Friends of North Saanich Society has received:

$5000 from the Victoria Foundation

$3000 from Victorian Epicure

$5000 from Dave Smith Professional Components

$2000 from Judy & Fraser Smith of the Smith Maneuver

$1000 from the Bevan Ave Dental Clinic

$500 from Cedar Grove Yachts

Along with $1000 worth of fuel from CO-OP GAS

And there is not enough room to even name all of the equipment we have been leant including experienced operators from

Martman Excavating / G&E Equipment

Michell excavating

John Plant Excavating – Bike parks neighbor too!

Dave Aylard of Brackenhurst Farms – Bulldozing guru!

Jim Dunlop – for lending us his bobcat for phase 1!

Classic Towing for dropping off our toys / machines!

Other business's have donated incalculable man hours in never ending efforts to have this day come!

http://www.blogger.com/www.straitlinecomponents.com Huge thanks to Denis Paquette, the man who keeps this all on track!

North Saanich Municipality Overly cooperative and supportive of this park for the community. Huge thanks for all the help from Cliff Halliday and Peter Chandler who have been there meeting after meeting year after year.

The entire committee of Friends of North Saanich will be listed shortly in a following post as we are still organizing and seeking some smart people to fill spots on the board of directors. Main goal at the moment is ironically a Volunteer Coordinator is needed!

Any interest please do contact Denis Paquette 812-3262

Now the fun part! Randoms from the past week focusing on the beginner and intermediate sections formed and shaped by Kyle Michell and Mark Mathews! !

So.. first thing we did was scrape the field and form our berms for the kid sections!

Ps. still looking for a Volunteer Coordinator!

We do need a new fence in the park but it would be for keeping kids out during construction! These deer are fearless and calm around us as we dig!

As I filmed this two wild rabbits were playing at my feet, oddly peaceful for an area so urban.

Michel Excavating brought in their big machine to reform the old Pro Ramp into a cool new dual slalom feature!

Kyle Michell rarely needs to leave his machine!

Mathews forming a hip jump!

Massive 40 ft container from Viking!

Final inspection on the new Pro Line location by local residents!

New Free Ride Site

2009-03-29T03:06:00.000-07:00

Time to check out the new Free Ride Website, we are still adding new info, but lots of images from the unofficial opening are available to see thanks to some quick camera action.

Freeride BC in the news!

2009-02-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

This news event actually happened over a week ago but I was awaiting footage to post up but better late than never!

A lot has been happening behind the scenes as usual but if feels like we have finally gone public in stating that the park is open, come in and ride.

Shaw cable was on hand to profile the North Saanich Freeride Park and those behind it.

First some insight full words from a few of Victoria's very own Olympic athletes!

Silver medalist and 3 time world champion mountain biker, Alison Sydor!

"Having myself been involved in the establishment of a number of initiatives to help get young people on mountain bikes in this province, Ive seen how the sport is not only fun and healthy for kids, but has also the power to change the lives of many young people who’s high energy levels when left unchallenged and unchanelled had become problematic."

"For it’s relative cost over a recreation facility such as a pool or an ice rink, a facility such as the North Sannich freeride park offers great bang for the buck in terms of giving the kids and other residents a place to get out for a healthy activity in a park that will be up to date and in touch with the demands of the mountain bike free ride and bmx enthusiasts."

One more...

Catharine Pendrel, Canadian World Cup Champion and 4th in the 08 Beijing Olympics.
"I am writing to you as a BC Olympian and in support of the North Saanich Bike Park (NSBP). I believe this park is an amazing opportunity to help kids, as well as adults, get active and learn new skills. Like myself, many kids are not drawn to school sports, but sport can still be a powerful influence in their lives. The NSBP provides an alternative to school sports in an environment that can be easily coached and supervised.

As athletes and leaders it is our responsibility to provide forums for kids to become involved in sport, and support to those willing to create sport opportunities for others. I believe the North Saanich Bike Park is an excellent resource that will benefit the lives of North Saanich residents as well as surrounding communities. "

So I will post the full interview once I get it but for now please be happy with a few few mini clips of the day.

First up is Mark Mathews, original founder of the park more than 5 years ago:

Then the parks poster boy Drew Mitchell, Canada's current National Champion and part of the reason we are building a park of this sort, where can a athlete train to help represent it's own nation? A park like this is needed where athletes can train and the kids can aspire to train to be just like them in the same location!

They Interviewed Kyle Michell as well but I never caught his interview on film as I started to laugh at the awkwardness of a camera right in your face but he did a good job explaining the park design concepts.

Kyle builds parks professionally around the world for the UCI. If you watched the Beijing Olympics this summer the BMX track was his handy work and we have him working on this track until completion

Once the crew did the interviews they wanted a test run of the track so KYLE, Mark, Drew and little Kyle did some laps.

The cool thing about this park is that after 5 years of work we are finally starting to fund raise! Sounds backwards but with the help of so many local business's and loyal people we have achieved this much with out a cent requested. Now the goal is to raise just enough money to keep Kyle here as last year we lost him a lot with conflicting work schedules as he flew around building tracks.

By late spring we plan to have in our own backyard a world class training track for everyone, child and pro and us out of shape types!!

Alyson Sydor
Here are some random shots of the day!

So again thanks for every ones help, we have achieved more than most parks could dream of on elbow grease and community support, lets get this park open by late Spring and throw a competition!

Time to get in Shape!

2009-01-30T10:00:00.001-08:00

This is me and yes I am wheezing in pain. I just finished hiking my bike up a cliff face and I admit I am out of shape!

Good thing we are building a Fitness track littered with jumps and flow to get me in shape!

I was on Pinkbike today and Katrina Strand our local ripper from Whistler listed a Training program.

Check it out!
SPRING FITNESS TRAINING PROGRAM PART 1!

Cold weather is good for the lungs!

2009-01-28T14:07:00.000-08:00

"The very fact that this track exists is a very good sign for the future of bike parks on the south island. Municipalities are afraid of the unknown and this park will set a precedent for this kind of bike facility in our neck of the woods. It will make it easier for future bike-parks to be built, because land-managers will be able to see on paper that this sort of facility is viable. For this reason alone, the park deserves the support of all the riders, and parents of young riders, in the greater Victoria area."

Kind words from Riders Cycle their crew hit up the park on the weekend for some fun in the sun!

Check it out the full story here on their Blog and props to Mitch Thacker for the photo's : NORTH SAANICH PUMP TRACK

Park is OPEN get in there!

2009-01-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

We shut down the park for weather reasons during that crazy holiday storm, but Cliff Halliday and his Union crew went in there and cleaned up all the fallen branches adn opened the gates yesterday.

Please go and enjoy the park the track will exhaust you, sadly I am a one lap guy at the moment!

We will have scored a great deal of help since opening the park and now we have a website coming with the generous and talented help of Colette and her firm BR Thompson Co.

So get in the park and ride it, get stoked and look over the snow fence at how much property we have been given to expand, if you look at the market value of property these days we are sitting a half million dollar parcel.

North Saanich is being very generous by not only letting us build there but helping us develop /maintain the park so everyone start thinking about what we can make this park into. We have designs for the open areas but I want feedback for the treed areas and future pump track expansions.

A year ago hand clearing the pump track section...

But thank god Gordy Martman has machines we can use for the open areas because wheel barrels suck!

Park Directions!

2008-12-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

We have been hiding this park for almost a year, I am finally posting the information on how to find it... But please respect that in bad weather as we have right now, park etiquette must be taken to heart! Knobby tires eat the track up sooo fast so please think ahead and bring track friendly tires. If not in your budget just use common sense and enjoy this park!

View Larger Map

North Saanich Freeride is now Open!

2008-12-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

Officially this is it, Phase 1 is open for anyone to ride at anytime with in daylight hours!!!

Been a long time coming but please go and enjoy it!

We will have a Grand Opening in the Spring and begin phases 2/3/4/5/

Thanks to everyone involved for their efforts!

North Saanich Freeride Park AGM!

2008-12-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is it, by this weekend we should have phase 1 legally open for all to come ride! Massive pump track was finished last night with the aid of a light system and some old fashion elbow grease!

**FOR CONFIRMATION OF PARK OPENING, CHECK BACK FRIDAY EVENING**

Our third AGM is set for Dec 11 2008, 7PM at Mary Winspear.
We are looking for volunteers to help with fundraising and to help run our society.

NSMBS *North Saanich Mountain Bike Society* will be eagerly seeking the right candidates to make this park like no other. We want to open phases 2, 3, 4 and 5 the following year with an ambitious goal to erect structure making it a covered, all weather riding facility.

We appreciate any support that you may be able to
provide.

Again Dec 11th 2008, 7PM at Mary Winspear Center out here in Sidney, right off the Highway.

A lot has been done behind the scenes to even get to this stage, we have an amazing Gas sponsorship through Peninsula C0-Op intended to keep our Generous donations of Machines from G & E Equipment Rentals / Dave Aylard, North Saanich Municipality Parks Division and Endless support from Sidney Water Front Inn and Spa .

Tilt your head a little bit! This is our end goal, so please support North Saanich and our quest for a place for kids and adults to enjoy their rides.

Long over due upate!

2008-11-18T14:31:00.001-08:00

Sadly, I had issues entering the blog all the codes went dead so I have let it slide for months!

Amazing things have happened since the last post:
Rock roads installed
Drainage pipes laid
Co-Op gas sponsorship
Tracked bobcat and wheeled bobcats being loaned
2 Olympic MTB Athletes stepped up to endorse the park

We are about a week away from opening Phase One, as seen on the image above. Modest but now that we are legal we can get to work on new phases.

I will make a better posting on teh events later, I have just cracked the codes. Old Google would not allow a password reset or reminder -?- but we are back online!

Big thanks to all the vollunteers who haev made this happen.
Stay tuned!

Pump track skill overview!

2008-07-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Listen to Mr. Mark on how to flow in a park, we will be making a secondary track to the big track that will be very low and fast with endless line choices.

Good video for those unsure of what to do with a track of this sort.

Drew Mitchell wins Canadian Nationals!

2008-07-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Drew Mitchell wins 08 Canadian Nationals!! This is why this park is beign built! We have so much talent in Victoria but no where to hone in the skills, Drew and Steve Smith both Cove Factory riders are the fastest Canadians out there and both live on the island!

Check it out!

Sicklines has the full story on Drews win, so please check it out Here

Just a week after placing fifth at 5th Red Bull Mt. 7 Psychosis, seconds behind Sam Hill, Drew flew to the east coast and dominated the series!

For those of you not in the know, Drew has been the key player in the North Saanich Freeride park, The day after he got back from the worlds in Italy he called me up to see if we can work in the park. Drew is a motivated guy, stoked for him.

Be sure to catch the full report on SICKLINES.com and check it out!

Pumptrack test run!

2008-07-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

We finally received some quality material and immediately went to work forming/fixing the pump track. Kyles' skills with the Bobcat along with the ease of raking the soft material, has enabled us to be close to opening phase one! Kyle gently forming the track with his bucket! This is when you sadly realize that you are not in as good of shape as you thought, you can hear me huffing as I video taped.

It's taken awhile, but we finally scored some proper material and had it trucked in by Gordy Martman Excavating. Previously, we had to mix 60/40 sand and clay and it sucked! Either it snowed, rained or we always ran out of material. But the new material is so easy to manipulate.

Kyle Michell, Cliff Haliday and myself hammered out the track in 7 hours! We had Cliff on the Wheel Loader, dropping material in key spots and Kyle working his magic with the bobcat, supplied by Jim Dunlop.

Kyle getting the Bobcat ready to show off why we call him the Rockstar!

Look at that material... so nice to rake instead of clay chunks!

We need more DIRT!!

2008-06-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted a blog, bike season has kicked in full swing and we are just awaiting some material to cap the course for the soft opening.
You can see some video of it, the paint is unreal. Drew's ride!
We have to date built the entire park on volunteer time and efforts and no budget what so ever!

This park is no joke Canada in not known for taking care of their athletes, so props to North Saanich for stepping up.

Check out Drew's new ride he took to the worlds here
You can see more here on Sickline "What the Pros Ride"

Anyone who knows anyone with material please contact me Greg at 250-655-6603

So here's the update: Our designer/ builders report.

Kyle Michell just got back from building the UCI BMX worlds and Olympic track in Beijing. He still cannot breath he claims due to the nasty smog.

Andrew Sherry is floating around at competitions and pulled a solid 8hr, 8 man work party forming the berms coming out of the first pump track and the kids section. Halting due to lack of material.

Andrew Mitchell is in Italy right now racing the second World cup after a bad crash In Scotland a week or so ago. Back on his game and in 16 hours the race begins so stoked to see what comes of it.

Click here to watch some footage of the course they will be battling on! FreeCaster it is sick! You can see Drew slide by around the 1:04 mark on his orange cove.

So we will get the park going the first chance we get some material, so stay tuned.
Anyone wanting to watch it live go to my friends website he has the countdown clicking.
Watch Sicklines coverage

Last weeks track connection!

2008-05-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Decline posted on their website a mini blurb on the Flouride race where Drew won second place last weekend. Second isn't bad since Drew slaved in the North Saanich Freeride Park for three days straight, him and I quit at 8 pm on Friday dehydrated and out of fuel for the bobcat.

Drew's our park slave as long as we let him play with a shovel and a bobcat he doesn't talk back too much.

Visit Virtual Descent.com for a run down of the course!

Results:

Pro Men:
1. Lars Sternberg- Fluidride/Fox suspension
2. Andrew Mitchell- Cove Bikes
3. Bart McDaniel- Center Cycle
4. Richard Mukai- Rotec Cycles
5. Sean McClendon- Decline Griz America

Now keep in mind we are building a modern freeride park here in North Saanich and Drew is our key guy along with Kyle Michell -no relation- Since Kyle is in China building the worlds BMX track, Drew and I have been focusing on setting up the pump track area and planning layouts until Kyles return.
Check out Kyles Jumps in his front yard for a taste of whats to come.

Kyles work in Madrid...

And Kyles work in California...

This past week Drew and I did a super human feet and did a track connection -not the prettiest but we intend to top the track with proper soil as what we had was not future friendly.

Massive shout out to Jim Dunlop for supplying his personal bobcat for us to use, without it nothing would have happened and to Tammara at Classic Transport for picking up and delivering the bobcat for us to use.

I cannot even begin to count how many various firms have chipped in selfishly to make this work!
So hopefully this park -free at anytime for anyone- will set a standard for park designs in other communities and we can start training athletes for our sports both BMX and MTB. Keep an eye on the blog for updates!

Freeride Park update!

2008-05-05T10:19:00.001-07:00

So what I have learned is this... Sun is better than rain and snow!

This was two weeks ago, after days of sunshine it decided to snow on the park on a build day. So... building was off but we decided to keep the machine in action and at least chew up some material because that is just fun.

This past weekend we had a mini build planned and cove-shocker Drew Mitchell of Cove Bikes swung over to help connect the large pump track but again it decided to rain. No luck. But we took the time to use North Saanichs Wheel Loader and designed the little kids track and form some berms with base material.

Everthing is wet so until ther material dries we are going to wait and hunt down more material for the park so we can make it professionallyBig Props to Gordy Martman Excavating for consistantly backing us up with machinery, it is making other parks jealous at how good we have it.

Bike Park update!

2008-04-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

We have been building in the winter time, not the best when dry material is key but we laid the pump track on the first sunny day we had.

Now spring is here we are scrambling for material to help mix into the clay on premise and big thanks again to Gord Martman Excavating, who has again stepped in with some material for us to use. The excavator was taken way temporarily but will be back for a few hours of mixing then we can loop the pump track.

Check out the quick videos.

Bike park in top gear!

2008-03-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is Dave Aylard of Brackenhurst Farms admiring his gardening skills after a full 8 hour day of bulldozing the park then wind rowing the material along the north fence.

On top of donating his Bulldozer and expertise Dave has also donated gravel for our access roads throughout the park.

Our design concept relies on the skill levels divided by three key roads that will not only just divide the park in phases/skills but act as spectator roads for event days, competitions and the curious parent who wants to watch their child in all areas of the park.

This is Jim Dowd. Jim is a farmer by day and night and professional tree faller on his coffee breaks. Jim showed up between his busy day to strategically remove some trees deemed hazardous so that we can safely design throughout the natural sections. No animals or ferns were harmed in this trees falling!

Big thanks to John Plant of John Plant Excavating for stepping in and helping organize with Gord Martman Excavating for delivering Dave's bulldozer to the site.

This has truly become a community event with everyone chipping in for the cause and we are beyond pumped to build this park like no other and start developing future athletes by simply giving people a place ride.

Too many people quit riding over the lack of places to explore so if you want to get on board and help us out by all means get in touch!

What is needed the most is motivated individuals to rally up memberships and help organise work parties.

A second and very important position is of course donations and fundraising. Someone who sees the cause and the vision we have of making this park a modern fitness park.

Please email nsfreeride@gmail.com and CC gp.spi@shaw.ca as well and we will be in touch.

Cheers!

Fitness park Phase 1!

2008-03-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

And this is just the kids section...

Sorry Locals only... go build your own pumptrack!

Nah this is a free park and just a sample of whats to come in here North Saanich.

This is about 1/3rd of the pump track more to come with crazy lines that connect to each other. It will be starting out with a triple step up into a flowy straight stretch that offers transfer lines and a big triple into a berm once you get into the flow. This is fun for kids and the pro so we will make it ultra sexy for all of you to come ride it.

This is a out of the ordinary park, mainly because we want BMX and MTB of all levels to ride and have fun but we need help! The pump track is a sample of quality to expect backing up our claims that we have one of the best builders Kyle Michell designing and constructing this Park.

And this is our last section to eb built- the pro section! The picture makes this look small but we piled our start ramp to 25 feet.

Stay tuned and by all means contact Greg at gp.spi@shaw.ca for volunteer and sponsorship info.

Breaking dirt at last!

2008-03-03T12:39:00.001-08:00

2 weeks ago we had a bit of sun, enough sun to dry up the soil enough for digging. We had Gord Martman drop off a machine and operator to begin cleaning the site and fluffing the soil into wind rows.
Click here to see us in action!
I will post up last weeks efforts and show the pump track being made. We need help!
This park is going to be so rad we just need a bit more support.
Keep an eye out for our member ship and sponsorship forms we will be handing out within a week. In the mean time contact Greg at gp.spi@shaw.ca for any information!
Cheers!
Greg

Please Read

2008-02-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone, we just started this blog so excuse the lack of content lol!

The Municipality of North Saanich, Sidney Waterfront Inn, AJ Finlayson Architects, Straitline Components, Michell Excavating, and John Plant Excavating and George and Mark Mathews- founders - all came together and made this happen and have worked our buts off in doing so.

This isn't an announcement of what we want to do, we are already there! We have been having meetings for close to a year, now that we are ready to break ground I created this blog to show the land plot and kick the project into top gear.

This is going to be a rad place and best of all free open park located right off the ferry in North Sannich/Victoria BC . Hop on the ferry and come and ride!

We have a tight group of professionals Engineers Architects, Lobbyist, Accountants, Industry affiliates and Escavation firms to make sure we do this right.

Just please be patient as we set the blog up properly!

Thanks,
Greg

Stoked to get involved?

2008-02-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Yes we do have our society set up but we need more people who are go getters. We have no intention of going small, a business plan will be drawn up for government grants with intentions of enclosing the park for year round use.

To qualify for the grants in question we need to run skill clinics for a year and clock our volunteer hours before we are eligible. Shaums March of Mad March Racing will be coming over to run his skill clinics once we are open and more are welcome, this is a public park.

We need individuals who are keen on overseeing skill clinics, scheduling events to come and keeping relations with local media and other individuals who want to join us in maintenance and course up keep.

Benefits are you own the parks heart and soul and can ride at will something you helped make happen. All the positions available will be announced in greater detail in a few weeks.

You can contact me Greg Parish at gp.spi@shaw.ca or 250-655-6603 for more information.

Friends of North Saanich aka FreerideBC!

2008-02-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

So this is our first blog post, we literately just opened this blogger account so that we can start announcing what we got cooking.

We are working closely with the District of North Saanich to open up a modern park fit for all styles and levels. Our Society is set up and everything is a green light now we are building our member base and preparing to break dirt in a few weeks.

300*300 ft with a healthy batch of large old growth for us
to design our pump tracks and jump lines. We want this to be a work of art so making it in phases will be a must. In the trees is a open space full of natural obstacles to design around, it may look small but this is a large parcel of land.

Coolest part is that yes this is a modern park but it really isn't another "jump park" we will have large pump tracks and double down courses for everyone to ride regardless of the skill.

So being that this is a modern park the design will allow for advanced riders to progress their skills in double diamond jump lines . Those who are intermediate or novice will have their own area to ride until the skill levels increase.

More info to come.